Windmill.



W. 'P." BENNETT.

WINDMILL. APPLIOATIOKIILED IEB.13, 1909.

Patented Feb. 28,1911.

2 sums-sum 2.

TINITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. BENNETT, 0F WOODSTOCK, OHIO.

WINDMILL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. BENNETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Woodstock, in the county of Champaign and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Windmills, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of the present invention is to utilize air currents in developing power to be used for operating machinery in the industrial arts. 1

In accordance with the invention, an en gine has been devised embodying feathering blades mounted in a peculiar manner and automatically turned to present a maximum amount of surface for the wind to impact against or to offer a minimum amount of resistance when returning to an operative position according to the load or work to be performed and the velocity of the wind, whereby the engine may operate efiectively both in a light breeze as well as in a high wind.

In the practical embodiment of the invention, the mechanism illustrated has been devised and the invention consists of the novel features, details of construction and combination of parts which hereinafter will be more particularly set forth and pointed out in the subjoined claims and shown in the drawings hereto attached, in which Figure '1 is a front view of a wind mill embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section, a portion of the head and the upper part of the collar being shown in full lines. Fig. 3 is a front view of the governor.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same characters of reference.

The tower 1 for supporting the operating parts of the engine may be of any construction. The wind mill head 2 is forked as shown in Fig. 2 and is provided with a vane 3 for holding the engine in the wind. The head 2 is mounted upon the tower 1 so as to turn about a vertical axis thereby hold ing the active blades squarely in the wind. The fork members of the head 2 are supplied with bearings in which the rotating parts of the wind mill are mounted such as a section 4 of the shaft and a hub 5 forming a part of the casing.

The casing comprises two parts 6 and 7. the part 6 having a hub 8 and the part 7 Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, 28, 1911, Application filed February 13, 1909.

Serial No. 477,568.

provided with the hub 5. The section 4. of

to be driven. The section 11 of the shaft in line with the section 4 passes through the hub 5 and is provided at its outer end with a set collar 12 and washer 13. The inner end of the section 11 is secured in the hub 14 of a spider 15 which is fastened to the part 6 of the casing so as to rotate therewith and with the section 4. The parts 6 and 7 of the casing are mounted to have an independent rotary movement for the purpose presently explained.

A series of shafts 16 are mounted in bearings 17 attached to the casing part 6 and their end portions extend beyond the casing and are supplied with blades, paddles or wings 18. The blade 18 at one end of a shaft 16 is arranged about at a right angle to the blade secured to the opposite end of the same shaft, hence, when one blade is receiving the full force of the wind, the diametrically opposite blade is advancing in the wind to an operative position with its edge to the wind thereby offering a minimum amount of resistance. The shafts 16 are located in the same plane and in order to admit of one shaft clearing the other at the point of cross ing, the middle portions are crimped or offset as indicated at 19. Arms 20 are made fast to the shafts 16 upon opposite sides of the axis of the engine and cooperate with a track 21 so as to properly position the blades. Each of the arms 20 has a small wheel 22 to minimize the frictional contact between the arms and track 21 when said arms are traveling over said track. The arms 20 fast to the same shaft have a right angular arrangement to each other so as to properly position the blades 18 in the operation of the engine. By preference, the arm 20 at each end of the shaft 16 is in a plane parallel with the blade 18 so that when the arm is turned into a position parallel with the current of air the adjacent blade is correspondingly turned to present its edge to the wind and thereby offer a minimum amount of resistance to the forward movement of the blade when returning to an operative position.

The track21 is concentric with the axis of the casing and is substantially semi-circular and is fast to the section 7 of the easoperative position, move with their edges 7 i to the wind so as to offer a minimum of re- 10 The governor sistance.

for controlling the relative position of theblade isapplied toithe hub 5 of the section 7 of the case and comprises f rods 2 l1and both secured at their inner l5 vane 26 is. attached tothe outer end of the ends to the outer portionof the hub 5. A

rod 24eand a weight 27 is adjustably mounted upon the'rod 25. The weight 27 holds the vane 26in the wind and the greater the distance of the weight 27 from the hub or axis of the windmill the greater the resistance of the vane 26 to the action of the wind.

/ hen the vane 26 occupies a perpendicular 7 position the part 7 is located so that the ceiving the force of the wind are caused to track 21 is in an approximately horizontal position, with the result that the vanes reoccupy a relative position to receive the effective force of the wind for a' maximum length of time,'but as the-'vane-26 moves from the perpendicular the part- 7 and track ,21 are correspondingly moved so that the vanes 18 are held in the wind for a less period of a revolution, hence a less amount of force of the wind is transformed into efficient work. When the parts are assembled in a wind "engine substantially in the 'mann'er, herein wind and the blades returning to the opera-- disclosed, the wind wheel is held in the wind by the vane 3 and the position of the gov-v ernor vane 26 with respect to the perpendicular is fixed by the weight 27. Asthe '7 7 wheel rotates, the blades in position to receive the force of the wind, occupy a position at right-angles to the direction of the tiveposition present their edges to the wind thereby offering a mimmum amount of resistance to the movement of the blades as they pass from an inoperative to an operative position. Power may be taken from the engine in any manner preferably by means of the sprocket wheel 10. When the weight 27 is moved upon the rod 25 nearer to the axis ofthe wind wheel, the1vane 26 may be moved from theperp'endicular by a lighter wind under normal conditions the 1 part7 forming asupport for the track 21 in f an approximately horizontal position, as indicated in Fig- 1. VVhenthe wind increases I e so as to, turn the'vane 26 against the action of the weight 27 the support 7 is eorrespondingly turned and moves the t-rack21 I from the normal position to a greater or less inclination depending upon the force of the wind, with the result that the blades feather or present their edges to the wind at a later period-in the'revolution of the wheel, thereby retarding the movement of the wheel and preventing racing thereof under a high wind. After the weight 27 has been set, the governor mechanism is automatic in action in adapting the engine to the velocity of the wind, thereby preventing damage in a gale and insuring performance of work in a comparatively lightiwind.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a wind engine,the combination of a rotary support, feathering blades mounted upon said support,'a track, a rotary support for said track, and a governor device operated by direct action of the wind to move the last-mentioned support and change the relative position of the track to vary the point of feathering of the blades with reference to their revolution.

, 2. In awind engine, the combination of a rotary support, radially disposed shafts mounted on said support, blades attached to the outer ends of said shafts, arms fast to said shafts, a track adapted to cooperate with said arms to turn the shafts and eifect a feathering of the blades, and a governor having connection with said track and operated by direct action of the wind to Vary the position of said track and change the point of feathering of the blades.

3. In combination, a "two-part casing, feathering blades mounted in one part of the casing, a track carried by the other part of the casing and adapted otem feathering of said blades, a hub connected with the part of the casing provided with-the. track, a governor device fitted to said hub and adapted to effect movement of the part of the easing connected thereto for shifting the relative-position of the track, and a sectional shaft, the sections extended from the part of the casing supporting the feathering blades, and one of said sections being mounted in the hub of the section of the casing provided with the track. V

4. In combination, a two-part casing, feathering blades mounted in one part of the casing, a track carried by the other part of the casing and adapted to effect feathering of theblades, a hub projectedfrom the part of the "casing provided with the track, a spider attached tothe part ofthe casing supporting the feathering blades, a sectional shaft, oneof'the sections'secured to'said spider and mounted in the afore-mentioned hub, and a governor device attached to the hub ofthe part of the easing provided with the track. v

5. In combination, a wind mill head, a two-part casing mounted upon said head, feathering blades mounted in one part of the casing, a. track attached to the other part of the casing and adapted to effect feathernected with the wind mill head to hold the 10 ing of the blades, a spider secured to the engine in the wind.

part of the casing carrying the feathering In testimony whereof I aflix my signature blades, a shaft section attached to said spider 1n presence of two witnesses. and mounted concentric with and adapted to turn independently of the part of the casing WILLIAM BENNETT provided with the track, a governor con- Witnesses:

nected with the part of the casing provided CHARLES A. CUSHMAN,

with the track, and a governor vane con- DANIEL S. POLING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

